Clasp



(No Model.)

' J. A. TRAUT.

v CLASP.

No. 511,820. Patented Jan. i894.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT Ottica.

JUSTUS A. TRAUT, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 511,820, dated January 2, 1894.

Applicationled July 23.1891. SerialNo.400.423. (No model.) I

To @ZZ whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, J UsTUs A. TRAUT, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Olasps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of clasps in which one part is attachable to the other by means of a hook or catch operable by the fingers, and which are applicable to garters and to suspender-buckles.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a front view of my improved clasp, illustrating, also, its application to a suspender-buckle. Fig. 2 is avertical section of the same in line ct a of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a back View of the frame of` the clasp. Fig. 4 is an end view of the frame. Fig. 5 is a front view of the claspslide. Fig. G is a front view of the clasp of a form adapted to be used as a garter-clasp.-

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the slide taken on dotted line b, b Fig. 5.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

The improved clasp herein shown and described consists essentially of an open frame constructed to receive the slide, and the slide fitted to engage between parallel guides carried by the side bars of the frame.

The clasp-frame, designated in a general way by F, consists of the lower and upper front cross-bars 3 and 5, respectively, connected at their ends by the parallel side-plates which have their outer edges bent first backward and then inwardly to form the grooved slide-guides G and S for receiving the slide. Said frame-plate has an open front between said cross-bars and side-plates of less width than the frame, and the spring-slide which is fitted to slide in said guide-grooves has the depending spring thereof bent forward in position for engaging on the upper edge of said lower cross-bar, the side portions of said depending point of the spring-slide constituting stops engaging behind the inner edges of said side-plates of the frame. At its upper end, (so called as a matter of convenience, notwithstanding the clasp may be used horizontally) the frame is to be provided with means for attaching it to the strap or article carrying the clasp. For instance, in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the frame is shown by the dotted lines extending upwardly to form the usual lever-plate, L, of a suspender-buckle; While in Fig. 6 said frame has, as shown by the dotted lines, the usual double loop, 9, of a garter-clasp. In Figs. 1 and 2 the buckleframe usually used in connection with the lever L is shown at M by dotted lines.

The clasp-slide, or spring-slide designated in a general way by S, is furnished at its lower end with means, as the loop 2l,for carrying the strap or like part to .be supported, and is fitted to slide into the grooves 10 and 12 formed between the aforesaid side bars 2 and 4 and their guides 6 and 8, respectively. The slide is bent over upon itself at the line 13, to form the slide-spring 14, whose lower end constitutes the slide-catch 15 and is adapted to engage the upper side of the cr0ssbar, 3, of the clasp-fralne; said spring being for this purpose properly shaped at the lower end, to form the slide catch l5, by having the middle portion of its width struck up or thrown forward out of the plane of the side edges of the slide spring 14 to engage said cross-bar, while the side portions, being relatively thrown backward, lie under the side bars of the frame to serve as stops for limiting the forward or outward movement of the spring 14.

According to my invention the spring portion 14 of the clasp slide is swaged or struck up at its lower end on lines 17, 18, which lines are somewhat remote from the side edges of said spring portion, and the middle portion 15 thereof is thrown forward out of the plane of the side edges 19, 20, of the said spring portion 14, to thereby form the slide catch which will, when the parts are assembled as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, have its lower edge in substantial alignment with the lower cross-bar 3 of the frame and be adapted for engagement therewith to prevent longitudinal displacement of the slide. By forming the slide catch in this manner, an important ad vantage is attained, to witz-The parallel portions 19, and 20, at either side of the Struckup slide-catch 15 form longitudinal guides therefor which underlie the side bars 2, 4,

of the frame and prevent lateral displacement of the slide catch, thus insuring the positive engagement thereof with the lower cross-bar 3 of said frame.

In using the clasp, the operator, to connect the two parts thereof, has only to enter the folded end 13 of the slide into the grooves 10 and 12 at the lower end of the clasp-frame, and then to push the slide upward until the catch 15 engages the upper edge of the crossbar 3, as shown, for instance, in Figs. 1 and 2. The parts being clasped together as set forth, to detach the same the operator with his fingers seizes the clasp-slide upon the back and front sides thereof, and closes the spring 14 upon the slide-plate 16 to disengage the catch 15 from said lower cross-bar, when by pulling on the slide this will be drawn from the frame and from between the operators fingers. In grasping the slide as aforesaid, the operator bears upon the slide-plate 16 between the guides 6 and 8, respectively, of the frame, and with one linger bears upon the front surface of the slide-spring 111 through the opening 20 of the frame.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- The herein described slde-clasp, it comprising the loop-shaped fr'ame F having the upper and lower front cross-bars connected by the parallel integral side plates which have their edges bent backwardly and then iuwardly to form the guide-ways for the,V slide, in combination with the U-shaped springslide S having the eXtreme end of its springportion struck-up or thrown forward in the middle portion of its width to form a slidecatch extending outward beyond the plane of the edge portions of said spring, and adapted when the parts are assembled for engaging with the upper edge of the lower cross-bar of the frame, as set forth.

JUSTUS A. TRAUT.

Vitnesses:

H. MALLNER, HENRY L. RECKARD.

Itis hereby certified that the residence of the patentee in Letters Patent No. 511,820, granted January 2, 1894, upon the application of Justus A. Traut, for an improvement in Glasps, Was erroneously Written and printed at the head of the specification, Hartford, Connecticut, Whereas said residence should have been written and printed New Britain, Connecticut and that the said Letters Patent should be read With this correction therein that the saine may coliform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofce.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 16th dayof January, A. D. 1894.

JNO. M. REYNOLDS, Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

[SEAL] Gountersigned JOHN S. SEYMOUR,

Commissioner of Patents. 

